Monday, October 31, 2016

Split Party: Part Two

The Party:

  • Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
    • Flit, the bat familiar
    • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
    • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
      • Rawf, Wardog familiar
      • Grerr, Wardog totem animal (deceased)
  • Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
    • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
    • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
    • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Airsen Birdmaster, Airwalker

Meanwhile, Caranthir noticed most of his companions were no longer in town; with Rig and Llarm still recovering, he and Airsen had nothing to do. They spent a few days listening for rumors; first, they heard of a small shop, with cut-rate merchandise, and picked up a Scroll of Gods, hoping to glean some hidden knowledge. They left a Potion of Anything, planning on returning for it later. Eventually, they ran into a city guard who was tasked with finding adventurers to clear out a problem on the Wall: the lower half of Mareten Tower had been closed off for centuries, but recently, something had been knocking on the door... from the inside. Eager to participate, the duo, along with their henchmen, explored the first floor of the tower. Apart from a painful magical trap and a carefully avoided pit, there was little of excitement. However, on the second floor (down), they had not explored far before a portcullis came crashing down, cutting off the exit! Airsen and Caranthir were trapped on one side, with Luce and Rhea Trueheart on the other. Hoping the paths rejoined, they continued exploring.

Split Party: Part One

The adventure today was broken into two pieces; as such, it'll be easier to post two blogs, one for each.

The Party:

  • Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
    • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • James Morthor, Warlock
    • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
    • Iodberta, Fighter
    • Frauuara, Fighter
    • Leah Thewend, Airwalker
    • Encarna D'cruz, Priestess
    • Alice, human child (age 10)
  • Sneakily, Spy

First, Morthor, Groin, and Sneakily, along with their companions, left to follow the treasure map left by the druids. A day onto the trail, they ran into a laconic young man sitting by the road. After some concerned discussion, Morthor opted to move past him. When they were a few hundred yards down the road, there was a sudden gust of wind - they'd been robbed! Of... everything! They turned to see the young man hastily dragging anything magical out of the pile of their stuff at his feet! Seeing them start to move towards him, he waved the wand in his hand threateningly. "On step closer, and I'll Wish you were on the moon!"

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Weather and Holidays

I've generated the weather in Mor-Thir for the entire year; it varies by latitude, but as the party discovered, there are times it is just plain hot. So hot, in fact, that they had to travel at half speed, or risk heatstroke!

But apart from heat, what other weather exists?

Knowledge Sought is Knowledge Found

A while back, the warlock Morthor was given a letter by an old woman, and told, "Knowledge you seek? Knowledge you find!"

The front of the envelope was blank but for the world "Knowledge"; the back was sealed with wax, with a strange symbol for the stamp.

Inside was what appeared to be a page, torn from a book; page 117, as written at the top. The page contained two things of note: first, a poem, and second, a map.

The poem reads:

Knowledge sought
   is knowledge found,
An Orb of thought
   deep underground
A hidden spot
   near Gnomish Mound
Knowledge Sought
is Knowledge found

The map is reproduced to the left. It appears to be a maze, with the entrance either at the bottom of the page, or near the top, next to a group of brightly-colored houses. At the top and bottom left of the maze are two trees, each with slightly different fruit. In the middle of the map is a strange image of a brownish blob with a yellowish cone on its top, next to a blue ^ over a grey v.

Last, and perhaps most importantly, there is a section that appears to be closed off; inside is a symbol: a circle with a dot in its middle, very similar to the wax seal.

It is slightly odd that the area under the poem is blank, while the maze takes up the margin to the left; naught but ink-stains mark the rest of the page.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Druid Destruction

The Party:

  • Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
    • Flit, the bat familiar
    • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
    • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
      • Rawf, Wardog familiar
      • Grerr, Wardog totem animal
  • Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
    • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
    • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
    • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
    • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
  • James Morthor, Warlock
    • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
    • Iodberta, Fighter
    • Frauuara, Fighter
    • Leah Thewend, Airwalker
    • Encarna D'cruz, Priestess
    • Alice, human child (age 10)
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The Metal Man, construct
  • Airsen Birdmaster, Airwalker

After a bit of puttering about, not entirely decided whether to start the session or not, we finally started the battle. Caranthir rushed in, and the other fighters joined him, slashing at the leader. The leader retreated to the center of the stone circle, just in time for the three other high-ranking druids to cast their spells: Bless, Bane, and Holy Chant (for those of you keeping track at home, anyone close enough when it went off would thus be at a -3 to attack, and -3 damage!). The other druids, meanwhile, leaped forward, attacking and revealing the pit vipers and anacondas wrapped around their arms and waists. Their weapons (and fangs) clanged off the armored fighters, to no avail.

Monday, October 17, 2016

The Journey Home, Part 2

The Party:

  • Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
    • Flit, the bat familiar
    • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
    • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
      • Rawf, Wardog familiar
      • Grerr, Wardog totem animal
  • Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
    • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
    • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
    • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • James Morthor, Warlock
    • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
    • Iodberta, Fighter
    • Frauuara, Fighter
    • Alice, human child
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The metal man, level [variable] construct
  • Airsen Birdmaster, Airwalker

With everyone present, it was time to engage the goblins. The party rushed in, shrugging off arrow after arrow, the front line protecting the spellcasters until they could fire off a sleep spell. Two goblin archers were quickly disposed of, and the first spell took down all but one of the remaining goblin minions, though it didn't touch the leader or the champions. The next round, the champions kicked most of the sleeping minions awake, though they didn't have time to react before a second sleep spell hit them, and down they went. This time, the fighters killed those within reach, just to make sure they didn't get up again. One of Fawfe's familiars was hit, then taken down by goblins; none of the other goblins could land a blow, however, and after a few rounds of blades sliding off plate armor, the leader was slain. The remaining champions opted for a fighting retreat, though all but one was cut down. Morthor's henchwomen gave chase, but didn't manage to capture the nasty goblin.

The goblins disposed of, the group quickly went through their belongings, finding a musical instrument that belonged to a bard (a lyre, in fact), a potion, and an assortment of silver, electrum, and gold, as well as weapons and armor from the goblins. The leader was wearing very fancy-looking armor, though goblin-sized, so too small for the fighters. Luckily, it was a decent fit for Gróin, though he opted to hold off on wearing it until it could be identified. Unfortunately, the goblin that got away had made off with Leah's +1 bow. Though Rig was able to restore Fawfe's familiar to life, the goblin sword removed one of the poor beast's legs; however, that was the only damage sustained in the battle.

There was one other item in the camp - a chest-sized box with a slot, sized for money. Llarma, having already collected a mechanical man, claimed it as her own, and dropped a silver piece in. Nothing happened, so she dropped in a gold piece. After some whirring and clanking, it spat out a javelin! Fancy! Putting in two gold pieces resulted in a case of 20 crossbow bolts; it seems the machine randomly chooses a weapon worth what is inserted, with a minimum purchase of one gold piece. It explains why the goblins had such nice stuff, too; better quality weapons means better spoils.

After another day's journey, the weather changed for the worse; first, it rained all afternoon, then the next day, a tornado ripped through the area! Though it lost everyone a day's march, they were able to hunker down in a well-built shelter and weather the storm. The heat wave broke, however, and they were able to make it back to civilization without trouble. They spent a full day drying out, while a hired specialist tested the magical items they had. Indeed, the armor and shield pried from the dead goblin leader were not cursed - in fact, it was +3 plate and a +1 shield! The dwarf was quite excited. The potion was a potion of plant control; very handy. The knife, given as payment for killing the Lamia, was in fact a +1 athame. The previously-unknown scroll, written in dwarven, was a divine Scroll of Ward against Lycanthropes. Last but not least, the party managed to sell the final hippogriff baby, padding their already bulging moneybags.

They put out an ad for adventurers, and managed to pick up a priestess and a thrassian gladiator: Encarna D'cruz (lvl 1), and Zarc (lvl 2).

Though they spent an hour at the local tavern, no one managed to hear anything interesting, and a trip to the Wall Guard headquarters had little of interest. However, the local church had two favors, for which they would gladly owe favors in return: first, a village in the wild plains had driven off their missionaries, and travelers as well; the church was worried dark things were happening there. Second, a group of druids had been making trouble, destroying roads and villages. Bravely, the group accepted both missions. Helpfully, both were on the way to the gnome city, which is where Morthor was anxious to go.

They set off along the road; one morning along the way, they discovered fresh, green grass had sprouted up in footprints, right through the center of their camp; no one knew quite what to make of it. There were no other problems, however, and soon they came across tracks for the druids. Cautiously following the tracks to their lair, the party found a dozen armed mercenaries, along with nine druids: six outside a stone circle, three inside, and the last sitting in the center. They continued their chanting as the party watched, silently; after about half an hour, they hushed, and the druid in the center stood and approached them. Morthor attempted to talk them out of attacking villages, but the druid was adamant - they were following the will of nature, and returning the Wild Plains to the control of Wild Magic. He was haughty at first, but became more agitated as they spoke - no matter what Morthor suggested, the druids were absolutely certain that they were following the will of nature. Morthor stepped back and allowed Caranthir to take over negotiations, as he and Larma stepped back to cast spells...

Treasure and Experience

  • Treasure from sales
    • From the Lamia: 6000ep, 4000gp, zircon (75), wrought brass (100)
    • From the Kobolds and Thoghrin: 1 box of shells (80), 2 agate (25 ea), 1 bag saffron (15), 1 tiger eye (25), 1 statue (160), 1200 sp
    • From the Goblins: Musical instrument (lyre), 23000sp, 7000ep, 1274gp, jasper (50), wrought brass (120)
    • Sale of the last baby hippogriff: 2880
  • XP From Encounters
    • 20 goblins (5 each)
    • 4 champions (1 fled, 3 killed) (10 each)
    • 1 goblin leader (15)
  • Total XP: 16104
  • Total gp: 18724
  • XP per PC: 1895 XP
  • XP for henchmen: 947 XP
  • Treasure per PC: 2341 gp
  • Treasure per Henchman: 1170 gp
  • Note: Clench gets a henchman share of XP, but not treasure.
  • Note: XP and treasure was already tallied in-game.

GM Notes: Goblins just don't hit very hard. Against peasants and low-level adventurers, they can be terrifying, especially wielding crossbows and good swords, but against well-equipped adventurers, they don't stand a chance, at least not in such low numbers.

I can't wait to find out how the (rapidly-growing) party fares against these druids, though! This is the first magic-enabled battle where they didn't have the element of surprise, and the first battle against more-than-first-level character-class NPCs that the whole group is participating in. Is there a TPK in store, or another definitive rout? Tune in next time to find out!

Monday, October 10, 2016

The Journey Home, Part 1

The Party:

  • Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
    • Flit, the bat familiar
    • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
    • Faufe Yitaw
      • Rawf, Wardog familiar
      • Grerr, Wardog totem animal
  • Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
    • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
    • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
    • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • James Morthor, Warlock
    • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
    • Iodberta, Fighter
    • Frauuara, Fighter
    • Alice, human child
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
    • The metal man, level [variable] construct

This was a short session, due to a couple missing players.

Our heroic adventurers, carrying the Lamia’s head as proof, returned to the kobolds. This time, they were met by the chieftain; as happy as he was to be rid of the Lamia, he was carefully avoiding the subject of payment. Rig, sensing an opportunity, warned the chief that while the Lamia was dead, there was every chance it would come back as a horrible undead creature, and that if they were to be paid, they would gladly used their abilities to stop that from ever happening. As illustration, he used his innate gnomish ability to throw his voice, and cause the Lamia to speak, threatening to kill them all. The chief reacted strongly, and had the tribe shaman call the witch doctor, who brought out a cloth-wrapped athame. It didn’t have any specific identifying marks, just some general magical symbols on it. The party expressed some displeasure at having so little to gain from their endeavors, so the chief threw in some pretty shells, as well.

Bardbarian: Beyond the Wall Tour

An excerpt from Norston Times:

The Bardbarian is a modern marvel; with magic and music, he draws staggering number of people to his concerts. Rich and poor, young and old, filling even the Slowhaven Amphitheater; people travel from miles around to attend. His diverse band includes a bard, a mage, a dwarf, and even a bladedancer, and his music reflects that diversity, ranging from the thunder-and-lightning scream-fest of Reigning Blood, to the lyrical ballads Stromsloja Rhapsody and Hotel Annhoradwy.

The Bardbarian will be visiting Norston 8/14, and will be preforming new songs from his Beyond the Wall Tour. Tickets are 1 sp standing room, 1 ep for mid-row, and 1 gp for front row seats. Please see your local message board for details.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Bees and Ambushes

The Party:

  • Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
    • Flit, the bat familiar
    • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
    • Faufe Yitaw
      • Rawf, Wardog familiar
      • Grerr, Wardog totem animal
  • Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
    • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
    • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
    • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
  • Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • James Morthor, Warlock
    • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
    • Iodberta, Fighter
    • Frauuara, Fighter
    • Alice, human child
  • Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate (more misspelling!)
    • The metal man, level [variable] construct
I'd like to point out that every single (living, non-animal) hireling is female: Luce, Rhea, Iodberta, Frauuara, and Elenora. Faufe and friends are wardogs, though smart ones.

Their business in Slowhaven previously taken care of, the party decided to make haste for the ruin, hoping to find massive amounts of treasure and whatnot. Chartering a river barge, they spent the next several days fishing and relaxing. Not a bad way to spend Brightest Day. They ran into a flock of swans in Riverbend, where Rig heard of a big fish in the lake. They disembarked at Market Lake, and weathered a storm that whipped up in the late afternoon. The next morning, they set out for Wallace, and once through the great Gate began the trek through the wilderness.

They began searching for the ruins they had heard of once they arrived in the general area, and managed to run into a giant tuatara lizard which proved none too friendly. It charged the group, but didn't manage to land so much as a nip before it was beaten to within an inch of its life. Rig gave it the chance to back down, which it accepted. It told them where the ruins were, and retreated to nurse its (considerable) wounds.

The ruins themselves were once a large trading city, with a great road (long since destroyed) that connected the Gate with the forest lands. It was split east/west by a high bank, and north/south by a wide, slightly elevated road. The party agreed to enter the north-east quarter first - what used to be a market and warehouse area. It was abandoned, but for a swarm of giant killer bees! Surprised, the party had little time to react before the 15 speedy bees swarmed them. Gróin was attacked by four bees, but managed to shrug off the sting that broke through his armor. A second bee attacked him as well, and his tough dwarf saves came through again. Rhea, the nightblade, didn't fare as well, and dropped, poisoned! Grimly, the others fended off the bees as best they could, until Morthor the Warlock cast Sleep, dropping the swarm in an instant. Elenora the White Mage quickly revived the fallen elf with Neutralize Poison, and the dwarf yanked the stinger out of himself. Ouch. The moment's pause was no victory, however - a second wave of bees emerged, ten tough guards. Clench the war-dogbadger fell, as did Iodberta. Luckily, Iodberta was able to be revived by Elenora, and suffered no harm; Clench had to roll on the mortal wounds table, but managed a natural 20, and was perfectly fine. The final opponent was the queen bee, but she could only beat ineffectively at Caranthir's tough armor. Finally, she dropped dead, and the sleeping bees were quickly ended. The group decided healing was in order, and boarded up the nest to use as a temporary hideout, discovering 3 potions-worth of royal honey. The sapper, wisely, dropped a trap in front of the door, and boarded it up with planks. He also reinforced the walls with summoned iron plate. That evening, as they party rested and recuperated, Clench leapt to his feet in alarm - something was outside! After a moment, the party heard the whoops and raspy laughter of a party of kobols. A lot of kobolds, actually. Soon, there was a scream at the door as the first kobold ran into the trap and was instantly slain. Then another. And... another. In fact, the kobolds kept coming; blasting through their moral rolls, the idiot kobolds piled their corpses high. Only 22 of the original 62 survived the encounter with the magical trap. In the morning, the well-rested adventurers opened the door (well, wall, they made a new door to avoid the trap) to a grisly scene: 40 kobold bodies, heaped in piles near the trapped door. Shrugging at the stupidity of the creatures, they resumed exploring the area. Finding nothing of interest in this quarter, they moved south - and discovered the kobold warren! The area teemed with kobolds - hundreds of them! After some discussion, they decided to attempt to hail the small lizard-creatures. Only Rig and Gróin could speak the language; Rig parlayed, and after parting with some silver, was introduced to the clan shaman. While he wasn't impressed by the group, he made no move to attack, either. After some questioning, he suggested the group rid him of a problem his clan was facing - a strange, half-woman, half-mountain-lion creature that lived in the south-west quadrant of the ruins. A Lamia! The group agreed, and crept up on the unsuspecting creature. A quick silence spell, and the creature was unable to cast Command Word; surrounded and trapped, she gulped a potion of speed, but was only able to land two blows before she fell to the rapid onslaught of the party. Threat ended, they searched for her lair, as Rig fell to dissecting the creature for its expensive insides. They discovered no small amount of treasure: 6000 ep, 4000 gp, a zircon, a small wrought brass statue, a shield +3, a Scroll of Resist Cold, written in draconic, a Rope of Climbing, and a scroll written in dwarven; they were able to decipher that it’s a divine scroll, but otherwise have no idea. One final item caused a bit of consternation: a Philter of Love, carefully placed on a pink pillow. Morthor and Caranthir had a bit of an argument over who was to keep that particular item, each wanting to keep it out of the other's hands. Hardly scratched from the fight, the group returned to the kobolds...

Treasure and Experience

  • Gold from Treasure:
    • 6000ep (3000 gp equivalent)
    • 4000gp
    • bronze statue, as yet unsold
    • zircon, as yet unsold
  • Gold from Sales: none
  • Total gold: 7000 gp
  • XP From Encounters:
    • 6 swans (5 XP ea) (parlayed)
    • 1 giant Tuatara lizard (320 XP)
    • 15 giant killer bees, 10 giant killer bee guards (6 XP)
    • 1 queen bee (13 XP)
    • 62 kobolds (5 XP) (40 killed by trap, 22 fled)
    • 343 kobolds, plus leaders (5 XP+) (avoided through parlay: 0 XP)
    • 1 lamia (2500 XP)
  • XP From Sales: none
  • Total XP: 10323 XP (7000 must wait until returning to town)
  • XP Per PC: 443 XP
  • *XP per Henchman: 222 XP
  • Treasure per PC: 933 gp
  • *Treasure per Henchman: 466.5 gp

*The metal man and Faufe and friends stuck around at the wagon to protect it (I imagine), so they do not get XP or gold, unless it's shared with them.

GM Notes

Kobolds aren't usually as stupid as that, but they really wanted that honey. And they rolled a LOT of ones, twos, and threes, so decided to keep on pushing, hoping either the trap would jam, or one of them would get through. Pity it was a perpetual magic trap... Meanwhile, the weather has been good - so far. The heat has kicked up, though, and the party is going to be moving much slower on the return trip. If they survive the kobolds, of course; they've done well so far, but there are over 300 kobolds, plus any leaders, in that warren!

Also, that poor Lamia... as tricksy as she was, she didn't stand a chance to the sudden onslaught. She was rushed, surrounded, and taken down in only two rounds. Next time, Gadget... next time!

And, a note on a house rule - I don't like insta-death unless it comes from a high-level monster. The lowly killer bee may immediately die upon a sting, but it has a better-than-half chance of insta-killing. Harsh! Too harsh, I think. Instead, I rule it as an immediate loss of all hit points. Neutralize poison can restore a player to life at 1 HP with no other ill side effects; otherwise, they have to roll on the Mortal Wounds table.